Urinary incontinence, or loss of bladder control, is a condition that causes people to involuntarily leak urine while coughing, sneezing, laughing, and exercising. Men and women both suffer from incontinence. Almost 16 percent of the women population suffers from urinary incontinence, and men account for a quarter the total patient population.
Typically, urinary incontinence is treated by placing a supportive implant, often called a sling, into the pelvic region of a patient. The supportive implant is used to cradle or support the bladder or urethra, depending on the procedure. Supportive implants are delivered to the pelvic region through one or more vaginal incisions and/or through exterior incisions in body of the patient. In addition to urinary incontinence, supportive implants placed into the pelvic region can also be used to correct various pelvic prolapse conditions, which include uterine prolapse, rectocele, cystocele, and urethrocele.
The common procedure for delivering such implants into the pelvic region of the patient involves a delivery tool that has a long curved shaft with a hooked needle tip attached to a handle. A surgeon maneuvers by hand the delivery tool into and within the pelvic region through and/or around tissue where the implant is desired to be placed. Once positioned, the surgeon must further manipulate the delivery tool by hand to capture an implant attached to a looped end onto the hooked needle tip. In some instances, the surgeon may require an additional tool to grasp the implant and place the implant onto the hooked needle tip. After which, the surgeon withdraws the delivery tool to position the implant in the desired location.
The above procedure is limited because it requires direct vision of the surgeon to capture the implant in the difficult to access regions of the pelvic. In addition, the delivery tool is hard to control by hand, and often the delivery tool deviates from the desired path of implantation. This deviation can result in failed attempts to capture the implant and to improper placement of the implant. Moreover, deviation of the delivery tool can result in inadvertent tissue, nerve, bladder, or urethral damage, and any required additional attempts at implant delivery significantly increase the risk of such tissue and/or nerve damage.